Unexpected Family
by Brenna
Summary: Vistor from an AU come through the Stargate and begin a new life on our Earth.
1. Prologue

Title: Unexpected Family  
Author: Brenna tkeefer6@home.com  
Spoilers: There But For the Grace of God  
Category: AU, Romance, Sam/Jack, Daniel/Janet  
Season/Sequel info: Post season 3.   
Rating: PG  
Archive: Heliopolis all others ask.  
Content Warnings: none  
Summary: Some visitors from an Alternate Reality come through our 'Gate...but can they go home again?  
Disclaimer: Stargate Sg-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of the author.

* * *

The inner ring of the ancient alien artifact began to spin deep inside Cheyenne Mountain surprising those on duty both in the embarkation room and in the control room above. No teams were scheduled to return for at least another two days.

"Unscheduled off-world activation! Security to the gate room! Medical teams to the gate room!" ordered Simmons into the PA microphone. "Duty officer report to the gate room!"

"I'm here, Simmons," said General Hammond entering the room. "What's going on?" 

"Sorry, sir. I thought you were taking the day off. Incoming wormhole. We haven't received a GDO signal yet."

"I **_was_** taking the day off. I just came in to get something I'd left on my desk," answered Hammond as Simmons belatedly realized the general was in his civilian clothes.

"Close the iris."

As Simmons entered the appropriate command into the 'Gate computer, he realized something was wrong. Nothing was happening. He tried again, but still nothing. He began trying every override procedure that he knew.

"Sir, I can't close the iris! Something or someone has locked us out of the computer." Simmons was by then furiously typing away at the keyboard in front of him. Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, Simmons slapped his hand down on the button to activate the PA microphone. "Major Carter to the control room. Major Carter to the control room!" 

It was already too late though. The seventh chevron locked into place, and they watched the wormhole form inside the ring of the Stargate. The SF's had arrived in the embarkation room and taken up defensive positions around the room. Simmons continued to work at the computer, trying to shut down the gate or close the iris. 

Major Carter came running into the control room, the rest of her team close at her heels. "What's going on?" she asked. After listening to Simmon's explanation she sat down at a second terminal adding her efforts to his. Desperately trying to close the iris.

"Sir, they're accessing the base computer!" reported Major Carter. Alarmed by this turn of events Hammond came to stand behind her. He peered over her shoulder trying to get a look at what was being accessed. "They're going through the personnel records. No attempt at accessing anything else." This continued for several minutes, and still nothing came through the gate. 

Suddenly a figure in fatigues landed on the ramp with a thud. The people in the control room could only stare at the dead man standing in front of the gate. He, however, wasn't as still. Quickly assessing the situation in front of him, he spoke into the headset he wore. 

"We're good, sir. No Goa'uld. Send them through," Kawalsky reported to whoever was at the other end.

"Now hold on," warned General Hammond through the microphone, but it did no use as a F.R.E.D. unit rumbled through the gate followed by another man in fatigues. Everyone was shocked to see a small child perched on top of the F.R.E.D. and equally as shocked to see the infant strapped to the second man's chest in a makeshift sling.

"We're through, Dad," reported this new intruder.

"Is Sammy all right?" asked a voice they all recognized.

The second intruder, much younger than the first and wearing captain's bars on his uniform, looked down at the infant.

"Yeah, Dad. She made it through fine, but we'll have the medics check her out. Dad, you still have time! Come through with us!" begged the younger man tears streaming down his face. "Don't make me an orphan and a widower in one day."

"That's going to happen no matter what, son. You know that. I'm still alive in that reality. I'd die from cascade failure within hours as badly injured as I am. At least it will be quick this way, and I'll get a chance to take a few more of those damn snakeheads with me. It'll keep them from following you. I'll be with your moms soon, both of them." The voice on the other side of the wormhole was obviously getting weaker now. 

"Don't let them gang up on you, Dad," advised the young man in a choked voice.

"I won't. Your moms will just have to share me. What an interesting after-life I have ahead of me, huh? You take care of my grandbabies, Charlie."

"I will, Dad," Charlie promised as he looked down at the child in his arms.

"Is my alternate there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," said Jack O'Neill to his other self as he walked up the ramp to stand beside the intruders.

"Take care of my son, O'Neill, and my grandchildren. Promise me."

"I promise," Jack told him, but his eyes and attention remained focused on the captain on the ramp beside him.

"It's time, Charlie. They'll break through soon. I love you, son." Seconds later the wormhole closed, and Simmons, realizing he again had control of the gate, closed the iris.

"I love you too, Dad" was the unheard reply as he sank to his knees sobbing.

"Take our guests down to the infirmary to be checked out, Colonel. Then I want to meet in the briefing room."

"Yes, sir!" replied Jack O'Neill helping the younger man to his feet. "Come on. You heard the general."

Charlie nodded to his father's alternate self visibly getting control of his grief. "Come on, J.J. We're going to go see Grandma."

"Gamma Jan 'r Gamma Sam?" asked the boy as he reached for his father from his perch on the F.R.E.D. causing Jack O'Neill's head to whip around.


	2. Under Advisement

"Well, everything looks good. For a premie, she's in wonderful health," reported Janet Frasier after examining the baby. Captain O'Neill had explained that his wife had died merely hours ago after giving birth to the tiny baby girl as the Goa'uld invaded their Earth. "Aren't you sweetheart? Her name's Sammy?"

"Samantha Sara O'Neill, for my mothers."

"Samantha? As in..."

"Samantha Carter, yeah. They're not together in this reality are they...because of the regs?"

"No, they're not together." Something in her voice told him it wasn't because the feelings weren't there. Maybe he'd have to give them a little nudge. The last few days had taught him that life was precious. They shouldn't waste what time they had because of some damned rules.

"Alright, J.J. Let's go talk to great-grandpa George," said Charlie as he gathered his daughter's tiny form into the crook of his arm.

"Why don't you leave them here with me?" suggested Dr. Frasier.

"I think you'd better come to the meeting with us," Charlie told her as he took his son by the hand. With a confused frown Janet took the toddler's other hand and together they walked towards the briefing room. 

"Captain O'Neill, I don't think this meeting is an appropriate place for your children," Hammond reprimanded as the group entered the briefing room. Chuck Kawalsky and all four members of SG-1 had already taken seats around the large conference table with General Hammond seated at the head.

"Well, General. Since I'm not letting them out of my sight, we have a problem. J.J. go sit on Grandpa's lap," Charlie told his son letting go of the boy's hand.

Colonel O'Neill pushed his chair back slightly, expecting the little boy to come to him. Almost everyone was surprised when he stopped at Daniel Jackson's chair.

"Ahh...your grandpa is over there, J.J."

"You're his other grandfather, Daniel," Kawalsky informed the surprised archaeologist. "You adopted Cassie when you married Janet."

"Cassie?" asked Dr. Frasier. "What does Cassie have to do with anything?"

"Janet, Cassie was my wife. J.J. and Sammy are your grandchildren," Charlie informed his could-have-been-mother-in-law.

"Then...oh, God. Not Cassie! She can't die that way. No!"

Charlie rose quickly from his chair to go to the distraught woman. "Not your Cassie, Janet. Your Cassie is still a teenager remember? And I'm dead in this reality. What happened to my Cassie won't happen here. Your daughter is fine! She will be fine. It's my Cassie that's gone. Not yours."

Janet looked down at the infant sleeping contentedly in her father's arms. She took Sammy from him, cradling the child to her chest. "Let me hold her for awhile." Charlie nodded, knowing she needed to hold her almost-granddaughter safe while she came to terms with how her "other" daughter had died in this alternate world he'd come from, and returned to his seat at the table.

"Alright, so let me get this straight," demanded Daniel. "In your reality, Charlie didn't kill himself with Jack's gun."

"No, Mom found me playing with it, and when she tried to take it away it went off. She died."

"I remarried though?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, in our reality Sam went on the first Abydos mission. You got to be friends with her as well as Daniel. She really laid into you on Abydos, Jack, about going on that mission when you had Charlie to think of," Kawalsky told them. "When you got back you retired to raise Charlie. You and Sam got married about a year later." 

"That's three," stated Daniel with a smirk.

"Shut up, Daniel" he was told by both Sam and Jack. General Hammond just gave his two officers a considering look while Charlie and Kawalsky continued their story.

"When Apophis first came through the 'Gate, Sam was working on it. She was taken. When they came to tell Dad that there'd been an 'accident', he didn't believe their bullshit story. He made them take him to General Hammond. When they finally told him the truth, he insisted on leading the team through the gate." 

"What did he do with you? You couldn't have been more than 11 at the time," asked Jack.

"General Hammond's wife took care of us. If you hadn't made it back, you'd left instructions for Granddad Jacob to get custody."

"Us?"

Charlie reached into his pocket and brought out a battered wallet, which he passed over to Colonel O'Neill. "Jake and Sara were 3 months old," he said. "Mom had just gotten back from maternity leave." Jack O'Neill hungrily eyed the snapshot of the two young infants, then began flipping through the other photos in the wallet. "Who's this?" he asked holding up another photo.

"Katie. She was born 2 years after you rejoined the Air Force."

"But the regulations..."

"You were already married, and the SGC needed you here. General Hammond got the President to make an exception considering the astronomically small number of people qualified for the position that could actually keep their mouth shut," explained Kawalsky. "The original leader of SG-1 in our reality couldn't and caused a major security nightmare." 

"What did we do with the kids when we went on missions?" asked Sam as she looked at the photos Colonel O'Neill had passed on to her. 

"Janet or General Hammond took us some of the time. Grandpa Mike took us as well. Grandpa Jacob would come take us to visit the Tok'ra when we got older if they were somewhere secure."

"What?!"

"You guys have some pretty smart kids. Charlie was about 15 when he figured out what you guys did at the SGC," explained Kawalsky. "I don't know how old the twins were, but Katie had it figured out by the time she was six." 

"I was thirteen actually. I just have Dad's knack for keeping my mouth shut. No one realized I knew until I was fifteen."

"My kids get their smarts from their moms," joked Colonel O'Neill with a wink to Major Carter.

"You've still got them believing your dumb soldier routine?"

"What dumb soldier routine, Captain."

"Oh come on, Mom...er Major. He's got that not-so-amateur observatory set up on the roof. You think he doesn't understand science? He makes you explain things 'cause he likes to hear the sound of your voice, and he does it to Uncle Daniel and the others just to be perverse." Sam blushed at this explanation from the man who could have been her stepson before glancing at her commanding officer. From the sheepish expression on his face, she could tell Charlie was dead on in his explanation of his father's behavior. "Do you really think a 'dumb old soldier' would make the rank of 2 star general in this day and age? So how many doctorates do you have, Dad?" The rest of SG-1 noticed that neither their colonel nor their commanding general would meet their eyes.

"Two star, you say?" inquired Jack trying to avoid the silent question being posed to him by his team.

"Doctorate in what?" asked Sam in a deadly voice.

"Ahhh...military science was the first one. Followed that up with military history, and I'm working on one in astronomy right now. Learning about the Stargate inspired me to go after this one, I guess."

"You have two doctorates and are working on a third?" asked Daniel.

"Uhh..yeah, well I needed something to do with all the time I've spent in the infirmary during my career. I started when I was doing Black Ops."

"We're going to talk, sir. After the meeting is over," Samantha Carter warned her CO.

"Looking forward to it, Carter."

"I'm a little confused though. Charlie would only be 15 if he'd survived. You look quite a bit older than that, Captain."

Kawalsky looked over at General Hammond. "Sir, we'd already evacuated all the non-essential personnel off-world to several rallying points. The snakeheads had the 'Gate blocked though for the few of us that stayed behind. Sam and Charlie figured out how to MacGyver the Quantum Mirror to the 'Gate so we could dial out to AU's. We got most of our people out to various AU's where they either didn't exist or were already dead, but cobbling the Mirror to the 'Gate caused a...what did you call it Charlie?"

"Temporal feedback."

"Right. So we've ended up in different times as well as different AU's."

"What about Sam and our kids?" asked O'Neill.

"You guys sent the kids through to Grandpa Jacob as soon as things started going bad. Janet and Daniel will be with them by now as well. Mom didn't want to leave Dad...she..uhhh" His voice trailed off as he looked between his father and the woman he thought of as his mother. 

"She died. The attack that injured the General back there...she was killed. I think that's the real reason why he didn't come through the gate," Kawalsky explained.

"What?" asked Carter.

"He wanted to be with you, Mom. He didn't want to delay his reunion with you a second longer than was necessary to get the kids to safety."

"How did you override our computers?" asked Hammond bringing the conversation back on topic. He was all too aware of the speculative looks flying between O'Neill and his 2IC.

"General, Mom wrote 90% of the software running those computers, and I followed in her footsteps when I joined the SGC. Over the years, I've re-written a lot of it. Remember, sir. I'm from about 15 years in your future. There's nothing you could have done to keep me out."

"What was J.J. still doing there?" asked Daniel of the child snuggled in his lap.

"J.J. was going to be in the last group of kids through the 'Gate to the evacuation sites along with Cassie. A few minutes before they were supposed to leave Cassie started bleeding. In the confusion of trying to save Cassie, J.J. didn't make it to the 'Gate. That was the last group that got out before the Goa'uld blocked the 'Gate." 

"So how are we going to get you back to your time and AU?" asked Daniel.

"You don't. You destroyed your Mirror remember? We're stuck."

J.J. who had surprised his father by sitting quietly during the discussion pushed himself out of his grandfather's lap and ran to his father. "I wan' Mama! I don' wanna stay hewe! Gam'pa Danny don' know me, and dey wook funny! I wanna leave, Daddy! Now!" Charlie held his son in his arms trying his best to comfort the distraught boy. 

"I want your mama too, son, but remember what we talked about when Great-Grandpa Nick died. Mama's gone to heaven to be with Great-Grandpa Nick. So we can't see her now, but she's always with us." Charlie continued to rock his sobbing son back and forth not bothering to hide the tears trailing down his own face. "And your grandmas and grandpas look funny and don't know you because they're younger. They still love you the same though, and that's all that matters, J.J. I know what's happening is scary, but it's going to be all right." 

"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson, why don't you help the captain get his children settled. I'm sure they could use some sleep. Carter and Frasier, why don't you go into town and buy what little Sammy will need for the next couple days," requested Hammond. "Colonel Kawalsky, you and I can finish this debriefing without the others." 

A chorus of "yes, sir" came from those around the table as those that had been requested to leave stood. General Hammond and Kawalsky watched as the others filed from the room and the door closed before they continued.

"This is going to be hard on all of them, sir" Kawalsky commented.

"You don't think there's any way we'll be able to return you to your own Earth?"

"You can't return us to our Earth...our Earth is gone. Maybe we'll find a way to return to our own reality, but Earth is gone. Sir, I'm not even sure we should return. We would be assets to your SGC if we stayed, General. Charlie is as intelligent as his parents are. He was working in the lab with Sam by the time he was 16, and I have at least a decade more experience fighting the Goa'uld than anyone here because of the time thing."

"Don't you want to return to your family, Colonel?"

"What's left of my family just walked out that door, General. It's selfish, I know, but those kids are better off here than as refugees, sir. Charlie's family is here, even if they aren't exactly the family he grew up with." 

"I'll take that under advisement, Colonel."


	3. Boys and Girls

"Come on J.J., let's get you into bed," cajoled Jack O'Neill as he carried the boy towards the bed that would be his at least for tonight. "How about Grandpa Danny and I tell you a story while your daddy gets Sammy settled?"

"Sto'y 'bout what?" asked J.J. as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "Sto'y 'bout Napping House?"

Jack closed his eyes against the pain those words caused. He had often read that story to Charlie when he was about J.J.'s age. "I don't have the book here, J.J. So you'll have to close your eyes and imagine the pictures. Ok?" 

"'kay" he consented as he closed his eyes.

"There is a house, a napping house, where everyone is sleeping. And in that house there is a bed, a cozy bed, in a napping house where everyone is sleeping. And in that bed there is a granny. A snoring granny in a cozy bed in a napping house where..."

"Everyone is sleeping." J.J. and Jack spoke together emphasizing each word in a sing song fashion. A tear slipped down Jack's face remembering moments like this with Charlie. He brushed his hand through J.J.'s hair soothing the child with the rhythmic movements of his hand as he remembered doing with his own son. It seemed so unreal that this beautiful child was his grandson...or at least could have been his grandson. _'How am I going to survive losing him again? The crystal thing was bad enough, but at least I knew that wasn't Charlie. This is Charlie...a grown up Charlie with a son and daughter of his own.' _thought Jack._ 'How will I handle it if I don't lose them? We may never be able to send them home. Am I strong enough to deal with this?'_

"And on that granny there is a boy, a dreaming boy on a snoring granny on a cozy bed in a napping house where..."

"Everyone is sleeping." This time Daniel too joined in their recitation. _'God! I can't imagine what this is like for Jack. He barely survived losing Charlie the first time. What are we going to do? How can I help my friend? What if we have to send them back? In their world I married Janet. This little one is my grandchild as well. I've never even been a father, and now I'm a grandfather.' _ Jack continued to tell the story of The Napping House as J.J. began to slowly slip into the land of dreams himself. By the time the mouse had been put to sleep, so had J.J., and Jack's voice trailed off into nothingness. _'Jack must have told this story to Charlie to know it so well.' _thought Daniel. 

"How are you doing with all this, Jack?" asked Daniel quietly as he watched Jack continue to stroke J.J.'s hair soothingly. There was a far away look in Jack's eyes, and Daniel guessed that his friend was thinking of his son. Daniel thought briefly of Shefu, his own step-son, wondering if the Harsesis child existed in the reality that Charlie came from.

"God, Daniel. I don't know. It's gotten better these last few years. You and Sam and Teal'c have helped me move on. You have no idea how much you've helped." 

"That's what family is for, Jack." 

Jack looked up at his friend, this geeky man he thought of as a younger brother. "Yeah. That's what family is for. Looks like our family just got a bit bigger, Daniel." 

"We can handle this, Jack. You can handle this." 

"I wish we didn't have to do this to you," whispered a voice from the doorway and the two men turned to see Captain O'Neill standing there with his daughter in his arms. 

"Charlie," Jack said. "We'll survive. I won't lie to you. Part of me is having a hard time accepting this, but that's not the biggest part. The biggest part of me says to grab hold of you and never let go. I've missed you so much, son." 

Charlie walked forward and grabbed his father in a bear hug. "I'm glad we ended up here. I'm glad you're here." 

"Me too." 

On the road to Colorado Springs, Sam finally broke the silence that had encompassed the car for most of the ride. "He called me mom, Janet," Sam said from the passenger seat of a Janet's car as they drove into Colorado Springs for baby supplies.

"Sam..."

"Janet, I don't know if I can do this. Colonel O'Neill and I have kept our relationship on a professional basis for years now, but..."

"But everyone knows the two of you are in love and won't act on it because of the regs," supplied Janet.

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "Did you see those photos, Janet?" A tear slipped down her cheek. "We had three kids in Charlie's reality. Three. And here I can't even call him by his first name without risking a court martial."

"Oh, Sam," Janet said as she too began to cry. "Go to General Hammond. There's got to be a way. You two can't keep this up, Sam. It's tearing you and Colonel O'Neill apart. The tension is affecting your entire team. Daniel and Teal'c feel it too. They want you to be happy, and they don't know how to help you and Jack."

"What about you and Daniel?" asked Sam moving the topic of conversation away from herself.

Now it was Janet's turn to sigh. "He's still mourning Sha're. If it's meant to be. It will be. I have time."

Now it was Sam's turn to hand out advice. "Janet, you don't know how much time you have. You know how dangerous our missions are! You patch us up each time we get back. You know what's eating me up? What's eating Colonel O'Neill up? It's not that we can't be together now. We're so busy we can forget it most of the time. Put it to the back of our minds. It's that we don't know if we'll survive long enough to have a chance at later."

"God, Sam!" whispered Janet. "Why don't you resign? Why doesn't the Colonel?"

"Why does Daniel keep going? Why does Teal'c?" Sam asked in reply. "Because we know we're the best one's to do the job, and doing the job means maybe saving Earth. Maybe saving a lot more than Earth. Do you think there aren't days I don't think, 'fuck this...fuck it all. I want a life.'? God, Janet. I want a life with him so much it hurts! But then I think about each time my being at the SGC has meant the difference. Not only Jolinar's memories, but just my understanding of the 'Gate."

Janet pulled to a stop in front of the baby superstore at the local mall. "Let's get what we'll need and get the hell back to base," she muttered as she got out of the car.

"What exactly do we need, Janet?" asked Sam. 

"How should I know? When I got Cassie she was well past the diaper stage." 

Sam laughed, "Yeah, you missed the wonders of toilet training."

"Thank God. Bottles, formula, pacifier, diapers, clothes, blankets to start I guess. A portable crib if we can afford it."

"General Hammond gave me the credit card. Uncle Sam is picking up the tab."

"Oh well...since that's the case, let's have some fun!" crowed Janet. "I love shopping for baby things."

"Yeah...you noticed that General Hammond sent you and I off?"

"Separating the boys and girls? Yeah. He's not a stupid man, Sam. He's known you since you were a little girl and Jack almost as long. You're not hiding anything from him."

Sam nodded as she grabbed a cart and began pushing it through the store.

"We're not going to be able to send them home, Janet" whispered Sam. "They're going to have to stay."

"You're sure?" asked Frasier as she loaded the cart with canisters of powdered formula. 

Sam walked farther down the aisle to grab a half dozen bottles. Placing them in the cart she replied, "Charlie is, and he's had ten more years experience and study of the 'Gate than I have. I want them to stay, Janet. I want this family that's dropped into my lap. A step-son and grandchildren."

"Say the rest of it Sam," ordered Janet.

Sam looked at her friend afraid to hope, to put her wants and needs into words. "I want what she had. I want what those other two had as well. I want Jack."

"Then find a way to make it happen, Sam. Take your own advice. Don't wait," Janet urged her friend.


	4. Answer to Norman

Over the next few weeks Colonel Kalawsky and Captain O'Neill debriefed on everything they knew about the Goa'uld in their reality. Word came down quickly from Washington that the travelers would be allowed to remain. Birth certificates and new identities were being arranged for all of them. It was expected that the men would be given commissions and assignments at the SGC along with their new identities. In the meantime, all four were confined to base. Just what those identities were was the problem however. 

"I don't care how much more difficult it is. He's my son, and damn it, his new identity is going to be** as my son**!" 

"Colonel..." 

"I don't want to hear it, sir! We can make up a perfectly acceptable story to explain it. He's not that old that I couldn't have fathered him just after high school. His mother gave him my middle name. I find out and adopt him. Simple." 

"And what are you going to tell Sara and her father?" asked Hammond. "Can you keep it from her?" 

Jack paused at this. "They already knows we do strange things up here..." 

"They're not cleared, Jack." 

"Sir, I think it would be good for Charlie to see her. I think it would be good for Sara too." 

"Colonel, you sure know how to make my life more difficult." 

"We all have our little talents, sir." 

"Alright, make up an old girlfriend and we'll arrange Charlie's 'adoption'. As for him meeting Sara and his grandfather, and them learning the truth. That will have to be authorized from higher up." 

"Sir.." 

"I'll do what I can, Jack." 

"That's all I can ask, sir." Jack saluted sharply then waited for General Hammond to return it before exiting the office. He whistled quietly to himself as he ambled happily through the corridors beneath Cheyenne Mountain towards the guest quarters. "He agreed Charlie!" crowed Jack as he entered the quarters assigned to his son and grandchildren. 

Charlie smiled. "Well I'm glad I won't have to learn to answer to Norman," he joked.

"Charlie there's something else I asked the General."

"What?"

"I asked him to let me tell your mother and grandfather....to let you see them."

"Dad..."

"Charlie, I think you need this, son. It wasn't your fault."

"I just don't know if I can face her."

"Just think about it. She'll be proud of the man you've become."

"Gam'pa?" asked J.J.

"What's up, J.J.?"

"Can we go see Gamma Sam?"

"Well she's working right now, Sport. What do you want to see Grandma Sam for?"

J.J. just shrugged. Jack wasn't sure what to do. He sensed the little boy wanted his mother, but failing that one of his grandmas would do. "Let's go find Grandma Sam," Jack decided lifting the little boy onto his shoulders much to the toddler's giggling delight. "You coming, Charlie?" 

"Nah...I've got a debriefing scheduled with the geeks down in the tech section. They want me to explain some of the things on the MALP we brought through. I was going to take J.J. and Sammy down to Janet while I was in the meeting. You can drop J.J. off down there when you need to," Charlie told his father as he bent to pick his daughter up from the portable crib.

"Ok, J.J. It's just you and me for now then," Jack said as he carried the boy out on his shoulders. As they walked through corridors of the SGC, Jack and J.J. were stopped many times by various personnel. In the weeks since their arrival, J.J. and Sammy had become the darlings of the base. Charlie never lacked for babysitters when he needed to be away from his children even if all four of their grandparents were busy. A fact which Jack was grateful for as SG-1's next mission was scheduled for the next morning. One part of him was glad to be going on the mission. It would be a welcome distraction to the problems involved with settling his unexpected family into their new life. There were still so many things to decide and arrange. Not to mention so many emotions to be dealt with. "Hey, Grandma Sam," Jack greeted his 2IC as he ducked down to enter the door with J.J. still on his shoulders. "Look who I brought to see you." 

"Gamma!!" JJ shouted happily as he held his arms out to her. 

Sam smiled. It was strange to think how quickly she'd gotten used to being 'Grandma.' "Hey, baby" she said as she pulled the little boy into her arms. J.J. quickly settled his head on her shoulder and began sucking his thumb. Sam raised an eyebrow at her commander. 

Jack leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I think he's missing his M. O. M. Just wants to be held for a while." 

Sam nodded as she swayed gently in a soothing motion as the palm of her hand moved in circles on J.J.'s back. "He's probably ready for an N. A. P.," she whispered back. 

Jack nodded as he sat down on a stool at the counter. "So what are you working on, Sam?" he asked remembering to use her first name in front of J.J. Dr. McKenzie had been brought in at the insistence of the brass to 'help the children adjust' to their new situation. Their odd little family's one session with McKenzie had left J.J. so distraught it had taken hours for his grandparents, father, and uncles (Chuck and Teal'c) to calm him. McKenzie had told the toddler that his grandparents weren't really his grandparents and that soon he wouldn't see them any more. Jack rubbed his knuckles as he remembered the satisfying crunch McKenzie's nose had made when Jack's fist had connected with it. Daniel hadn't done too badly giving McKenzie that shiner either, he conceded. After he'd regained consciousness, Hammond had a little chat with McKenzie about why he thought J.J. would never see his grandparents again. Then he'd called the President making sure that J.J.'s distraught screams for his grandparents not to go away filled the background. The plans to remove Charlie and his children had immediately been scrapped, and Hammond had been given the authority to deal with the situation as he felt best. 

After that disastrous encounter they had laid down the law to their commanding officer. McKenzie was not going near J.J. again. Period. Ever. Sam had laid down a few rules of her own to Jack and General Hammond. In J.J.'s presence they were not to call her Carter she had told them. They would call her Sam. To J.J. she was Colonel Sam O'Neill, and since they couldn't call her that they would use her first name or use her title only. The look in her eyes had brooked no disagreement. At the time she'd been holding the limp toddler in her arms where he'd finally cried himself into an exhausted slumber. Even then his tiny hands had clutched her as if afraid she'd disappear. It was a side of Carter they'd seen before with Cassie. The word had quickly spread throughout the base. Do not mess with Grandma Sam about her grandbabies. 

Sam spoke quietly of the project she was working on for a few minutes as she stood rocking J.J. in her arms. Jack soon offered to be her arms while she held J.J., so she continued to sway gently with the toddler as she instructed her commanding officer in various tasks. The sound of their voices and the rocking motion of Sam's body quickly put J.J. to sleep, and she gently laid him on the cot she kept at the back of her lab. It had originally been added when Sam had been working non-stop to rescue Jack from Edora, but the cot had been so useful that it had stayed. In the last few weeks, J.J. could often be found taking his afternoon nap in his grandma's lab. One corner had also been turned into a play area for the little boy. Charlie had told them that J.J. was used to entertaining himself in the lab as either his father or grandma worked. Jack had trouble wrapping his mind around the concept of children at the SGC, but he had to admit that in some ways it made sense. 

Charlie and his siblings had been part of the SGC since day one. Having the children here meant one less security threat from the NID and others. A problem Kawalsky had related in hushed tones one evening as they'd sat at an isolated table in the mess. Failing to gain alien technology any other way, the NID had kidnapped the children of several SGC personnel in an attempt to blackmail their parents into revealing SGC secrets. The kidnapped children had included Charlie and his siblings. Charlie had been fifteen at the time and had been roughed up quite a bit for protecting his siblings and the other children. He'd managed to keep all the children together though until the rescue team could find them. A fact that probably saved at least some of their lives. When an NID operation went bad people tended to disappear. A kidnapped child would most definitely not have been returned alive to identify his or her kidnappers. After the kidnappings, a child care facility had been built within the security of Cheyenne Mountain, and if anyone thought it strange that NORAD had their own 24/7 child care center it was passed off as yet another government oddity. 

"The general's agreed to let me 'adopt' Charlie," Jack said quietly as he looked over to make sure J.J. was still sleeping soundly. "I asked him to let Sara and Charlie meet." 

"What did he say?" Sam asked at the same time she tried to work through all that statement could imply. 

"He's going to take it to the PTB," Jack replied. 

Sam hesitated a moment before letting herself ask, "Why do you want them to meet?" 

"I think Charlie needs it," Jack told her as he toyed idly with a pen he'd picked up from her desk. "I know he still blames himself for her death, and I think Sara blames herself for his." Jack raked a hand through his hair. "God this alternate timeline shit gives me a headache." 

"What about you and Sara?" Sam asked as casually as she could manage. 

Jack's head shot up to look at Sam, but she refused to raise her head from the keyboard in front of her. 

"Sara's my past," Jack said firmly. "I would like it, for Charlie and the kids' sake, if we could be friends again. I still consider her part of my family." Jack grabbed her hands to force her to look up at him. "I don't consider her my future," he said as he looked into Sam's eyes willing her to understand. 

"We need to talk about that future sometime soon," she replied. "But right now we need to take J.J. down to Janet or we'll be late for the briefing." Sam gathered their briefing papers as Jack gently lifted J.J. onto his shoulder. They walked side by side down the corridor discussing their next mission in hushed tones hoping to get J.J. to the infirmary without waking him. They were so focused on their discussion they didn't even notice the way people smiled or whispered as they passed by. 


	5. That Family Situation

The next morning SG-1 walked up the ramp to the Stargate like they had a thousand times before, but there was something different this time. Charlie and J.J. had come down to the gate room to see them off . Each of the four travelers, much to the amusement of the special forces guards, had gotten a kiss good bye from the toddler. 

"As if traveling to another world through a big stone donut isn't weird enough now my son and grandson are seeing me off with a kiss," Jack groused as they exited on the other side. The smile on his face told his teammates that it wasn't an unwelcome event. The answering smiles from his teammates told him they shared his feelings. "So what are the sites to see on beautiful, P23-G4A?" he asked as he donned his sunglasses.

"You slept through the briefing, didn't you Jack?" Daniel accused.

"I may have zoned out there for awhile," Jack admitted. 

"There is no evidence of any civilization, O'Neill" Teal'c told him. "There may be something of interest for the geologists."

"Great. Soil samples," Jack muttered. "Ok, Sam. Which way do you want to head?"

"Three miles north-northeast," she replied. "The UAV showed a rock formation that should give us everything we need."

"I will take point," Teal'c announced and set off in the lead in the direction Carter had indicated. Daniel followed a few yards behind. Sam spaced herself out a few yards behind him, and Jack brought up the rear.

By the time the suns set they'd collected most of the samples they needed. They'd decided not to bother with the tents as it was a warm summer night. When Jack woke her for the third watch Sam asked, "Are you tired? Or can we have that talk about the future now?" 

"I think I can manage to stay awake a little longer," he replied with a tired smile. He fed another log to their campfire before settling beside her. 

"I think I should resign, Jack" she said. 

"What? Sam..." 

"It's not just this," she said as she gestured between them. Even on another planet with only Teal'c and Daniel as possible witnesses, they still by unspoken consent didn't speak aloud of their feelings for one another. "That's part of it, but there's also Charlie and the kids." 

"What do the kids have to do with it?" 

"If I resign, the general will offer me a position in the labs. Charlie would most likely take my place in SG-1 instead of going to one of the other teams, and he could leave the kids with me when he's on a mission," she explained. 

"He can leave the kids with Janet," Jack retorted. 

"Yeah, maybe" she conceded. "What about Cassie though? She's been through so much, Jack. How's she going to handle suddenly being a mother, but not really being a mother." 

Jack rubbed a hand through his hair. "I don't know what we do about Cassie," Jack admitted. "I worry how Charlie's going to handle it when he sees her for the first time....sees her as a teenager again. We need to talk to Janet about it I guess." 

"Even if Janet can take J.J. and Sammy some of the time, what about when she's on duty? And it still doesn't solve this," she said once again gesturing between them. 

"And what happens if this doesn't work out? What if we try this," he said repeating her gesture, "and can't stand each other. Think about your career, Sam! How it would look if you resigned to have an affair with your former CO." 

"You think that's all it would be, Jack?" she hissed angrily. "You sound so sure it wouldn't work out." 

"God no!" Jack said grabbing her hand. "Daniel's right about that. Three other timelines, and we're happily together in all three. I think..." Jack muttered as he lifted a hand to her face. "I think this is meant to be, but I don't want you to be hurt for us to make it happen. If either of us should resign it's me." 

"You'd be out of the SGC, Jack!" Sam hissed. "You're needed. If I resign we both get to stay, even if I can't go out in the field. Who knows, they may let me sign the same waiver Daniel and the other civilians do. With a little bit of scheduling, we could all manage to keep doing what we're doing and still take care of the kids." 

"There's gotta be a way..." Jack muttered. 

"To have our cake and eat it too?" she asked with a grin. 

"Yeah," Jack admitted. "Let's talk to Hammond," he suggested. "He's not going to court-martial us or anything. We haven't done anything yet." 

"Alright," she conceded. "We'll talk to the General, but if he doesn't have a better idea, we go with mine." 

"Okay," he agreed as he leaned back beside her against a fallen tree to watch the fire. 

The rest of the mission went without a hitch which was a rare enough occurrence for SG-1 that as they dialed the gate they spoke about having a weekend barbeque at Jack's house. Hopefully, they would be able to get permission for Chuck Kawalsky, Charlie, and the kids to leave the base to attend. Sam quietly reminded her CO that they needed to speak with Hammond as well. 

As luck would have it General Hammond asked Jack and his 2IC to remain behind after their mission debriefing. After the others had cleared the room he got right to the point, "Major Carter, we received a communication from the Tok'ra while you were away. Your father's going to be coming for a visit in three weeks," he told her. 

"That's great, General" she said with a smile. A visit from Jacob Carter was rare enough to be a treat for his daughter. It did complicate things though. How would her dad react to finding himself suddenly not only a grandfather but a great-grandfather? Not to mention how he'd react to the subject she and Jack wished to speak to Hammond about. 

"That is good news, sir," O'Neill agreed. 

"I also have news for you, Colonel" Hammond said. "The JCS's have agreed to your request. You can introduce Sara and her father to Charlie. They'll have to sign the usual paperwork before they're allowed any information though," he cautioned. 

"Yes, sir" O'Neill agreed before glancing at his second in command. "Ahh...sir. Sam and I need to talk to you." 

"Alright," he said as he sat down behind his desk. _'Somehow,'_ he thought, _'I think I should be sitting for this one.'_

"I think you know what it's about, sir" Sam said. 

Hammond sighed and nodded. "You and Jack are tired of the holding pattern your lives are in?" he guessed. 

"Yes, sir" Jack said. "Sam wants to resign so that..." 

Hammond held up his hand. "Don't say it!" he ordered. "Speculation is one thing. Fact is another." 

"Yes, sir." 

"What about you, son?" Hammond asked. 

"He offered to retire," Sam said. "But the SGC needs him here. If its me..." 

"I can bring you back in as a civilian scientist," Hammond completed the thought for her. 

"Yes, sir" Sam agreed. "Charlie can take my place on SG-1, and I can take care of the children while he's away on missions." 

"That's quite a sacrifice, Major" Hammond commented. 

"It would have its own rewards, General" Sam replied with a quick glance towards Colonel O'Neill. "It's probably the best solution we'll be able to come up with, sir. Charlie was part of a team in his reality while I oversaw the labs and went on an occasional mission as needed. I have to admit, I think Charlie's my superior when it comes to understanding the gate right now, but that will change quickly as I get caught up with the information he brought through with him." 

"Okay, let me think about this for a few days. Dismissed." He waited for them to exit the room before picking up the phone and dialing a number direct. "Fitz!" he greeted cheerfully. "It's George." 

_"What disaster is it now?"_ the jovial voice on the other end asked. 

"No nothing like that. We're having a quiet week. I need a favor," Hammond said. 

_"What kind of favor, George?" _Admiral Percy Fitzwallace asked. 

"You remember our new recruits," George asked. "That family situation we talked about." 

_"Things finally coming to a head?" _Fitzwallace asked. 

"Yeah," he admitted. "They're both talking about leaving the service. They're my best people Fitz! The SGC can't afford...hell the world...can't afford to have either of them out." 

_"I can't disagree with you there, my friend"_ the admiral said. _"I've read the reports. They've shown a remarkable restraint. If they were anyone else I'd say let one or both of them resign so they can be happy, but...._" 

"Yeah," George said. "We need them both exactly where they are. Remember that idea we were talking about?" 

_"Let me see what I can do."_

"Thank you," Hammond said. They talked for a few minutes more about other aspects of the SGC before hanging up. _ 'I've done what I can, Jack.'_ he thought. 


	6. An Overdue Explanation

Jack put his truck into park then rested his hands on the steering wheel as he stared out the windshield at the house in front of him. He remained that way for a minute as he gathered his courage. Each of his teammates had offered to go with him, but he'd turned them down. A decision that he was now regretting. Jack climbed out of the truck and walked up the drive to the front door of the house where he rang the doorbell. 

When the door opened his former father-in-law stood in front of him. "Jack," he greeted the younger man. 

"Is Sara here?" Jack asked nervously. 

"Yeah," Mike told him. "Come on in." 

"Thanks," Jack said as he hesitantly stepped into his father-in-law's home for the first time since the incident with the crystals. 

From down the hall he heard a female voice call, "Dad. Who was at the door?" 

"It's Jack, Sara" he called back. There was silence for a moment before the sound of footsteps could be heard from upstairs. Sara appeared at the top of the stairs a few moments later. "Hi," Jack greeted her hesitantly. "Can we talk?" Jack saw her pause. "It's important, Sara. Please." 

"Okay," Sara agreed. 

"I think I'll go take a walk," her father told them. "Good to see you again, Jack." 

"I need to talk to you as well, Mike," Jack said. "I still owe you that explanation from that thing a while back." 

"It's classified," Sara replied. "That's the only explanation you've ever given for any of it." 

"This time, I got you clearance," Jack told her. "But you have to come out to the base. Please, Sara. If what we had ever meant anything, please do this." 

"Alright," she agreed with a whisper. A few minutes later the three of them were flying down the highway toward Cheyenne Mountain in Jack's truck. None of them spoke at first but the silence quickly became unbearable to Mike. "How have you been, Jack?" 

"I've been getting better, sir" he told his former father-in-law. "I'm not..." Jack tried to find the words for all the changes he'd been through since that first mission to Abydos. "I'm better," he said at last. 

"I'm glad," Sara told him. 

"What about you?" he asked. It seemed to Sara that he placed a great deal of weight in that one question. 

"I'm okay, Jack" she replied. "Dad's been great helping me." 

"I'm sorry about that, Sara" Jack interrupted. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry I couldn't see past my own pain to help you." 

"Its okay, Jack. I understood," she told him. "I didn't know how to help you either. I'm glad someone could though." 

"Yeah," he agreed. "I'm going to introduce you to my team while we're here." Jack pulled the truck up to the first of the many security checkpoints they would have to go through to get to their final destination deep inside the mountain. Thirty minutes later they were at the final checkpoint in front of the elevators that lead down into the deeper levels of the mountain where the SGC was housed. Sara and her father were issued visitors passes, and Jack ushered them into the elevators. 

"How deep are we?" she asked as the elevator continued to descend. 

"Very, very, deep" Jack replied as the doors finally opened and he gestured for them to precede him. Jack led them down several corridors into a conference room where Hammond awaited them. "Sara. Mike. This is my commanding officer, General Hammond. General Hammond, my ex-wife, Sara, and her father, Mike." 

"Please, call me George," the general said as he took her hand in his much larger one. "We just have a few papers to sign before Jack can give you that explanation." The two men explained to the civilians very carefully the secrecy agreement they were being asked to sign and just what the penalties were for breaking that agreement. Sara didn't hesitate to sign her name though. For once she would know just what Jack did for the Air Force even if it did come too late to help save their marriage, and Jack seemed to want...no need...this so much. 

"Alright," Hammond said as he collected the papers. "Jack, SG-5 is due back in 20 minutes. Bring them down to the control room for the show." 

"Yes, sir" Jack agreed as he rose respectfully as Hammond left. 

"Spill, Jack" Mike ordered as soon as they were alone. 

Jack took a deep breath and seemed to hold it for a moment as he thought about how exactly to explain. He exhaled in a great whoosh of air before beginning at the beginning with the discovery of the Stargate. Twenty minutes later neither Sara nor her father had moved or spoken a word since Jack had begun his explanation. He eyed them both carefully for a minute before saying, "Come on. You won't really believe it until you've seen it." He stood and took her by the elbow to lead her down a flight of stairs into the control room where General Hammond and a few others were already waiting. "Sara, Mike. This is my team," he told her as he gestured to each person in turn. "My second in command, Major Samantha Carter. Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c." 

Just then a klaxon sounded causing Sara and Mike to jump and the others to turn back towards the window. She noticed a man in glasses sitting at the console in front of the glass window key the microphone in front of him and announce, "Incoming wormhole! Security to the gate room! Medical to the gate room!" 

"Look there, Sara" Jack said as he pointed out the window to the large stone ring in the room below. She gasped as a rush of pale blue light...energy...something burst from the ring before receding into a smooth surface within it. 

"Do we have a signal yet, Simmons?" Hammond asked. 

"Not yet, sir" he responded but corrected himself a second later. "Wait, yes. It's SG-5." 

As Sara watched in horrified fascination first one then other figures emerged from the energy and began walking down the ramp. 

Hammond keyed the microphone that Simmons had used earlier. "Welcome home, SG-5. Your debriefing is scheduled for 20:00 hours." The men and women who had just emerged from the Stargate acknowledged their commanding officer before turning to leave the room. 

"That...." Mike stuttered before shaking his head to clear it. "Okay, but why is it so important to you that Sara know about this Jack?" 

"Well, I have more to tell you," he said as he gently urged them back towards the conference room. Sara was dimly aware of the rest of Jack's team following. They knew the hardest part of Jack's explanation was to come and wanted to help however they could. 

"That other time...when Charlie..." she mumbled. 

"It was an alien my team accidentally brought through," Jack explained. "When I showed up at your house that day it wasn't really me." 

"That was...where the hell were you then?" Mike asked. 

Jack sighed. "The alien accidentally injured me. It tried to fix me, but there was one thing that it couldn't fix." 

"So it came back here to try to understand how to fix Jack" Daniel picked up the explanation. "We...ahh...we accidentally left Jack behind." 

"I don't understand," Sara admitted. 

"It couldn't fix Charlie's death, Sara" Jack explained gently. "It was trying to figure out how to make me stop hurting. In the mean time I was flat on my ass unconscious back on it's planet." 

"Oh..." she whispered. 

"There's just a little bit more, Sara" Jack said. "Are you okay to continue?" 

Sara nodded though in truth she wasn't sure she was ready to hear more. 

"A few years ago, Daniel found something on one of our missions. It was a mirror, but not an ordinary mirror," Jack said. "It's another kind of gateway. Except it doesn't send you to other worlds. It's a gateway to other realities. Alternate realities." 

"Like that TV show 'Sliders' or those 'Star Trek' episodes with the evil universe?" Mike asked. Suddenly Jack was glad that Mike was such a fan of science fiction. 

Sam nodded then picked up the explanation. "Exactly, sir. Daniel took a trip through the mirror accidentally when he found it, and then when we brought it back here some people from another reality used it to escape the destruction of their Earth by the Goa'uld." 

"The aliens you were talking about, Jack?" Sara questioned. 

"That's right. After we got our visitors back to their own reality, we decided to destroy our own mirror because of the danger that others could come through," Jack explained. 

"You were afraid the aliens in another reality would use it?" Mike questioned. 

"Indeed," Teal'c intoned solemnly. 

"Why is it important that I know about this in particular?" 

"A few weeks ago we had some new visitors," Hammond said picking up the story from SG-1. "Another reality. Their world was being overrun, but the Goa'uld had blocked their Stargate." 

"My alternate self and...another technician figured out how to jury-rig their quantum mirror to their Stargate so that they could escape to other realities," Sam told her. "Their jury-rigging had one complication though. They ended up going to different times as well as different realities." 

"The visitors that came through are from about ten years in our future," Daniel said. 

Mike glared. "I still don't see..." 

"In that reality Charlie didn't die," Jack told them quietly as he took Sara's hand. "He was one of the people that escaped here." Sara just stared at him in shock, so Jack continued. "In his reality, you found him playing with the gun and went to take it from him. It went off, and you died." 

"He's not..." Sara began. "My son is dead." 

"He's not our Charlie," Jack agreed. "But he is in a way. I couldn't..." Jack began to explain. "You deserve to know Sara. You deserve to know him...to know our grandchildren." 

"Grandchildren?" Mike asked in a bewildered voice. 

"He's from ten years in the future remember?" Jack said. "His son and daughter came with him. J.J. is just about two and little Sammy, Samantha Sara, was only a few hours old when they came through." Jack pulled his wallet from his pocket and handed several pictures to Sara who could only look at them as a starving man would a feast. She handed them to her father one by one who studied them just as intently. In that moment, Hammond saw a glimmer of a solution to at least one aspect of the dilemma of Charlie O'Neill and his children. 

"I want to see him," Sara decided. "I want to see them." 

"I'll go get them," Sam volunteered. As she stood she squeezed Jack's shoulder. A gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Hammond or the other members of SG-1. Sara and her father though were too busy processing everything they'd just been told to notice such a fleeting touch. 


	7. The Psycho-gist

After Sam had left the room, Jack asked, "Guys, can you give us the room for a minute?" After the rest of SG-1 and General Hammond had left the room leaving Jack with his ex-wife and her father, Jack took Sara's hands once again. 

"There's something else?" she asked nearly moaning at the thought. 

"Sort of," Jack said. "Sara, in Charlie's reality I remarried." 

"Oh," was the only response that came to her mind. In her heart, even though she'd been the one to divorce him, Jack was still hers. It had never even occurred to her that he would find someone else, that he could move on without her. 

"I remarried Sam in his reality," Jack gently explained. "J.J. thinks of her as his grandma, and Charlie, while he works hard not to say it, thinks of her as his mom. She...in that reality...she really loved him, Sara. She was a good step-mother. J.J.'s already so confused. We're trying to keep his family as much what he knows as possible." 

"So she's J.J.'s grandma even though here you're not..." Mike said his voice trailing off awkwardly. 

"Right," Jack agreed. 

Sara stared at him, and he returned her look. They had an entire conversation with that one look, and at the end Sara nodded and squeezed his hands where they held hers on the table. "I'm glad," she told him. There was no need to say what she was glad about. They both knew she was glad for many things at that moment, but Jack was most grateful that she was glad for the one thing that couldn't be spoken of aloud, at least not there. They sat in silence for a minute more each lost in their own thoughts before a knock at the door interrupted the quiet. 

Sam entered the room with a toddler perched on her hip. "J.J., this is your Grandma Sara and your Great-Grandpa Mike," Sam said as she cocked her head to look at J.J. where his head rested on her shoulder. His thumb was firmly seated in his mouth and his big chocolate brown eyes accused her silently. "We aren't going anywhere, J.J. I promise, sweetheart! Grandma Sara and Great-Grandpa Mike just want their chance to spoil you rotten too," she told him before placing a kiss on his cheek. "Charlie's up at the range," she told Sara and Jack. "I sent someone up to get him, and Janet's bringing Sammy up." Sam sat down in the chair next to Sara hoping to coax J.J. out of his shyness. She pulled a box of crayons from her pocket and set them on the table. "Here J.J. why don't you and Grandma Sara and I draw a picture for Grandpa Jack," she suggested. "I bet he'd love a picture of Grandpa Danny's new rock," she said with a wicked smile. "The one with all the snakes on it." 

Sara took one of the offered crayons and began to draw as she studied the other woman. She was very good with J.J. who seemed to prefer her even to Jack. _'I should hate this woman,'_ Sara thought. _'She's won Jack's heart even if they can't admit it, and she obviously has J.J.'s approval. She...in that other reality...she raised my son. She's his mom, not me.' _ The little boy had ventured just close enough to Sara to reach a crayon and begin to draw on the corner of the paper. His somewhat frightened gaze moved constantly from adult to adult trying to figure out what was really going on. As the two women and the little boy continued to draw the door opened again and another woman in a lab coat followed by Jack's other teammates entered the room. In the woman's arms was the unmistakable bundle of a baby. 

"Sara, this is Janet Frasier" Sam said preempting Jack. "She and Daniel are J.J. and Sammy's other grandparents. Janet's the base CMO." 

Sara greeted the other woman who relinquished the bundle in her arms. Sara looked down at the baby in her arms and gasped. "She looks like Charlie," Sara whispered. 

"That's what Jack said," Janet told him. "She's in great health considering the circumstances of her birth." 

Sara had to think about that statement for a moment, but Sam, noting her confusion offered an explanation. "Cassie, Charlie's wife, went into premature labor as they were evacuating," she said. "Cassie..." The expression in her eyes and the fact that Sammy hadn't been with her mother filled in what Sam left unsaid. Sara also noticed the look of pain in Dr. Frasier's eyes and suddenly made the connection that it was her daughter that had died in the other timeline. 

With a glance towards J.J., she said, "I understand." She returned her focus on the baby in her arms. Sara was unaware that while she was examining her granddaughter, her grandson was examining her. The other adults in the room watch the tableaux quietly. They could see the wheels turning behind J.J.'s little brown eyes. 

Something in J.J.'s expression shifted. "Gamma Sawa?" he asked. 

"What J.J.?" she asked then forced herself to relax her breath as she waited to hear whatever it was he wanted to ask her. _'Grandma,'_ she thought. _'God that's...I'm a grandma!' _The thought was enough to make her eyes tear with emotion. 

"Awe **_you _**goin' to go 'way?" he asked sadly. "De psycho-gist said my gammas an' pappas wewe goin' 'way, and I wouldn' see dem any more. But den Pappa Jack hitted him in de nose, and Pappa Danny hitted him in de eye. And Gamma Sam pwomised dat dat psycho-gist was wong, and dey wewen't goin' 'way." J.J. took a deep breath as he finished his story. 

She took a moment to decipher the toddler's words and then looked at the two men in question who managed to look both ashamed and pleased with themselves at the same time. "No, J.J. I'm not going away," Sara promised. "Cross my heart. Grandma Sam's right. Great-grandpa Mike and I are going to spoil you rotten, too." Sara whirled around as she heard a strangled cry from behind her. There standing in the doorway was a young man in his twenties. For a minute she thought she was having a heart attack the pain in her chest was so intense. "My baby," she whispered and rose from the table. The next thing she knew she was in her son's arms and they were clinging to each other. 

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I'm sorry" Charlie whispered over and over again, but all Sara could do was cry and hold him tighter. She finally forced herself to loosen her hold on him as the cry of the baby in her arms penetrated. She turned and handed the baby to the nearest adult who happened to be Teal'c before enfolding Charlie into her arms again. Teal'c merely raised one eyebrow and tucked the tiny baby girl more securely into his arms. 

"It's okay, baby" she murmured as she continued to hold him as he sobbed on her shoulder. "I love you, Charlie. Let it out. Let it go." Mike rose unsteadily and joined Sara in embracing his grandson. He held them both as they sobbed. 

Sam murmured quietly to Jack, "You were right. They did need this. All three of them."

"Why is Daddy and Gamma Sara and Pappa Mike crying?" J.J. asked from his perch in Sam's lap. 

"Because he hasn't seen your Grandma Sara and Great-Grandpa Mike in a very long time," Jack answered. He held out his arms, and Sam relinquished J.J. to his grandfather. "He's very happy to see them, and sometimes when people are very very very happy, they cry."

"Well, Jack. You done good here" Hammond told him as he slapped Jack on the back.

"Thank you, sir" Jack replied and whether he was thanking his commanding officer for the compliment or for helping him make this reunion possible no one was sure.

"I just have one question," the general said. "Were you the one that taught J.J. to call McKenzie the psycho-gist?"

"Actually that was me, sir" Sam admitted.

Hammond just chuckled and shook his head. "I need to see the two of you in my office," he ordered.

Jack and Sam traded a look before Jack handed J.J. to Daniel and followed the general into his office.

"At ease," Hammond said as he seated himself behind his desk and opened a folder in front of him. He handed Sam a piece of paper. "As of now, you are being re-assigned to the Pentagon as a liaison with Admiral Fitzwallace's office."

"Sir!" Sam protested.

"General, there's gotta be a way..." Jack protested as well.

Both of their protests were cut off by the General's raised hand. "Major, consider yourself on permanent detached duty from Admiral Fitzwallace's office. You'll be going out to Washington regularly to report to him and the other brass about the SGC, but the majority of your time will be spent here. You'll continue your work in the labs and join Colonel O'Neill's team on missions as assigned. You will report to me or Admiral Fitzwallace directly. In other words, you are no longer part of Jack's direct chain of command **_except _**while on off-world missions."

It took a minute for each of them to sift through the general's words. "Are you saying..."

"Keep it off duty," Hammond warned. "Consider yourselves on probation. If the two of you can't handle things as they've been laid out, we may have to consider other solutions."

"Yes, sir!" Jack said as he and Sam snapped to attention. 

Anything else they might have said was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Enter," Hammond ordered.

Colonel Kawalsky stepped into the room. "You wanted ta see me, sir?" he asked.

"Yes, Colonel. Follow me, people" he ordered as he rose from his desk. "We may as well do this all at once." He lead them back to the conference room where Charlie and Sara now sat at the conference table deep in conversation while J.J. was being entertained by Daniel and Janet. Teal'c and Mike cooed to tiny Sammy. The four entering the room couldn't help trading an amused smile at the sight of the big jaffa acting the doting uncle to the baby. "Captain O'Neill, Colonel Kawalsky, your new identification has arrived along with your commissions and orders," General Hammond said causing both men to snap to attention. "Colonel, we couldn't come up with a cover story to give you back your own name as we have the captain."

"I understand, sir" he assured the general.

"From now on, you're Colonel Charles Richard Guarnere," Hammond told him as he handed the refugee soldier a folder. "You'll be keeping your rank, Colonel, and I'm assigning you command of SG-3. It's been something of a jinxed team since Colonel Makepeace's arrest. I'm hoping you can change that."

"I'll do my best, sir" he told the general. "Guarnere?" he whispered quietly to Jack who could only shrug his shoulders in reply.

"Captain, you were born Charles William Speirs. Your mother's name was Mary Ellen Speirs. She was a high school friend of your dad's. She died when you were very young, and you grew up in foster care," Hammond explained. "A year ago you found out Jonathon Charles O'Neill was your father. After changing your name and J.J.'s to O'Neill, you began searching for him."

"J.J. and Sammy's mother?" he asked so quietly he hoped J.J. wouldn't hear.

"Elizabeth Cassandra Marcum whom you called Cassie. I've also arranged for a memorial service here on base, son," General Hammond supplied in a voice barely above a whisper before continuing in normal voice. "I've decided not to assign you to a permanent team as of yet, Captain. You're going to be Major...err..Sam's second in command in the labs. I plan to send you out with various teams on an as needed basis for now until J.J. and Sammy are more settled."

"Thank you, sir" Charlie told him as he accepted the folder containing his new identity.

"The Air Force has also agreed to my request for resettlement funds for you, but I'm afraid I could only get them to part with five thousand for each of you," Hammond told them.

"We'll make do, sir" Kawalsky now Guarnere assured him. "It's enough to get me into an apartment and get a few essentials. I take it that means we're allowed off-base, sir?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, Colonel" the general agreed. "As of now, you are free to leave the base. Captain, the children..."

"Yes, sir" Charlie agreed understanding that Sammy and J.J. couldn't continue to stay on base now that their new identities had been arranged. Child care would have to be Charlie's first priority. "When am I assigned to be on duty next?"

"Considering Sammy's age, you have another couple weeks of paternity leave, Captain" Hammond assured him. "You've also been working on an almost daily basis since you're arrival so those days won't be counted against that leave."

"Thank you, sir" Charlie said with some relief.

"We need to get Charlie and the kids moved into my house tonight," Jack said. "Now that they have identities, they can't stay on base."

"Your house? Why your house?" Sara demanded.

"Because I've got the most room," Jack explained. "I'm also smack dab in the middle of all the grandma's houses." All three women glared at him for that remark, but he just shrugged knowing he'd win this particular battle.

"Mom," Charlie said as he took her hands in his. "It would be best for the kids and I to stay with Dad."

"Why?" she asked as alarm bells began ringing in her head.

"Dad's got security already set up at his house," Charlie explained. "And his neighborhood is full of personnel from the base."

"Why are you worried about security?" Sara asked.

"It's complicated," Charlie told her.

"Charlie," Sara said in the universal voice of mothers everywhere that meant 'you're pushing my buttons.' "Everything about this whole situation is complicated!"

"Let's sit down," Jack said as he ushered his ex-wife and father-in-law back to the large conference table. 

"I've got a department meeting," Sam said. "I'll take the kids with me. Charlie, get down there when you finish here," she ordered. 

"Yes, ma'am" Charlie replied.

"Sara. Mike. It was nice meeting you," she said before taking the stairs out of the room. 

Sara and Mike listened as those remaining explained about the NID and their thirst for alien technology. "So let me get this straight," Mike said. "You're afraid someone may kidnap the kids? Then why'd you accept a commission?!"

"Commission or not, it doesn't matter," Jack said. "Charlie knows more about the Stargate and the technologies it's brought us than anyone else. He's a target."

"And because I'm a target the kids are as well," Charlie added. "The people in Dad's neighborhood know he works on a top secret project. Most of them being military they automatically keep an eye out for....odd things in the neighborhood."

"I remember," Sara said. She couldn't refute their reasoning. "Ok, go to your meeting. I'm convinced. Your grandfather and I will help your dad get you and the kids moved to his house. We'll need to go back to Dad's house, Jack, to get Charlie's crib from the attic."

Jack nodded. He was grateful she wasn't going to give them a hard time about it. "It's only temporary, Sara" he reminded her. "Charlie will want a home of his own for the kids soon enough, and you know you're welcome at any time."

"Dad, how about we have that barbeque you were talking about tonight?" Charlie suggested. "Mom and Grandpa Mike can get to know everyone."

Jack cocked his head as his conversation with Sam during their last mission replayed itself in his mind. "That's probably a good idea. Janet....ahh," he stuttered.

"Spit it out, Colonel," the doctor ordered.

"Cassie...Sam and I were talking, and....she needs to be told Janet," Jack said. 

"Maybe this barbeque would be a good time to do it. With the entire family there and all," Daniel suggested.

Janet sucked in a deep breath almost gasping at this new can of worms Jack was opening. The more she thought about it though, the more she knew he was right. They had no hope of keeping J.J. and Sammy's existence from her forever. It would be best to tell her now. Janet could only grimace knowing that there was no way to break this gently. 

Janet wasn't the only one whose mind had gone into overdrive at Jack's suggestion. Charlie squeezed his eyes shut. _'Cassie,'_ he thought. _'But not mine...she's sixteen now, and I'm twenty-seven.'_

"Will J.J. recognize her?" General Hammond asked.

"No," Charlie said. "I don't think he's old enough to really understand that she's his mom considering how different she looks. We'll introduce her as Aunt Cassie."

Hammond rubbed at the top of his head. "Well there's no way around introducing them," he said finally. "Do you want McKenz..."

"NO!" several voices emphatically denied before he had even finished the suggestion.

"Very well," Hammond said. "Handle it as you see fit, people. Let me know if there's anything I can do." He left then leaving the others to decide what they would do.

"I think it would be best if I tell her before we come over to your place, Colonel," Janet said. "Give her some privacy to digest it all."

"Before J.J. sees her," Charlie agreed. The details were soon worked out, and Charlie and the others left to return to duty while Jack took Sara and Mike down to Charlie's temporary quarters to gather his things and those of the kids to take back to Jack's house. 


	8. Grieving

As they moved Charlie, J.J. and Sammy into their new home Jack told Sara and her father about his teammates, but it was obvious to both of them that they were more than colleagues. They were his family. Several hours later Jack and Sara were sitting on the floor in his spare room assembling the crib they'd taken out of her father's attic. Mike had assigned himself the chore of putting Charlie's things away in the other bedroom leaving Jack and Sara alone to talk if they wanted. 

"So...you and the major," Sara asked as she held two pieces of the crib together as Jack attached them with screws. "When did you..."

"We've never," Jack said as he blushed thinking how odd it felt to be talking about his non-existent sex life with his ex-wife. "We've never even talked about it really. Except the one time...and then we said it wouldn't leave the room. It's just...we don't need to talk about it. We just know. We went to the general," he admitted. "He's worked it out. We're on probation, but as of this morning..."

Sara grabbed his hand where it was almost frantically tightening the screws to the crib. She waited for his hand to still and his eyes to make contact with hers. "I'm happy for you, Jack" she insisted. It was a surprise to her, but she truly was. Sara could tell that what he did at the SGC took its toll on him, on all of them, but the family he'd created with SG-1 made it bearable not just for him but for his teammates as well. 

"I worry that I'm too old for her," Jack admitted. "That I have nothing to give her."

"You're not too old, Jack" Sara assured him though misunderstanding Jack's fears. "You two can still have kids."

"Sam can't have kids," Jack said. "Probably can't," he corrected himself. "Something happened to her on one of our missions...she....it was bad," he finally said his eyes taking on that haunted look she knew so well.

"I'm sorry. You could adopt?" Sara suggested. "And even if you can't. There's Charlie and J.J. and Sammy. She seems pretty happy being Grandma Sam, and...I don't think I'm going to mind sharing the title with her. Either of them."

"Huh?" Jack asked.

"Grandma and Mom," Sara told him. "She's Charlie's Mom as much as I am, Jack. There's no way I could miss that."

"She's so good with kids, Sara" Jack told her. "Cassie...Charlie's wife. Sam rescued her on one of our missions. She wanted to adopt her, but with the life we lead, as much as we're away, that was just impossible. Janet adopted her instead, but Sam's a big part of her life."

"I have a feeling she isn't the only one," Sara said with a knowing look.

"Yeah, I guess we're all a big part of her life. I bought her a dog just after Janet decided to adopt her," he said. 

"I bet Dr. Frasier was thrilled," Sara replied drolly. 

Jack grinned sheepishly. His smile faded then and he snorted. "We haven't even gone out on a date yet, and I'm talking about having kids," he said.

"Somehow, I don't think that really matters when it comes to the two of you," Sara told him. "You didn't say a lot about your missions, but I have a feeling you four have been to Hell and back together."

"Literally," Jack muttered as he absently rubbed his right thigh causing Sara to raise her eyebrow in question. "Never mind," Jack said.

"You know each other like I could only dream of knowing you, Jack" Sara told him. "I could never know the part of you that belonged to the air force, but she does. She does because she's given that same part of herself."

"I've got so much baggage, Sara" Jack argued.

She sighed. _'This whole day is surreal,' _she thought to herself. _'First my son comes back to life, and I suddenly have two grandchildren. Now I'm acting as my ex-husband's dating coach.'_ "Jack, don't get cold feet now," she said aloud. "You've somehow managed to get around the fraternization rules to give the two of you a chance, don't wimp out now. Sam would never forgive you, and you'd never forgive yourself. As for baggage, we all have baggage."

"I got left behind once," Jack told her suddenly startling her with his abrupt change of subject "Besides the time you know about. The 'gate at the other end got buried in a meteor shower. We were trying to evacuate refugees. Daniel had already gone through and Teal'c and Sam were herding people through the 'gate. I'd gone back to the village to try to find a couple teenagers that had gotten scared and run off...." Jack trailed off lost in the memories.

Sara sat quietly waiting for him to continue for a minute before gently prompting, "What happened?"

Jack turned his head to look at Sara then and there were tears in his eyes. "She nearly killed herself to find a way to free me," he whispered. "She worked night and day for three months. The others told me...she wouldn't eat or sleep unless Janet forced her. I hurt her, Sara. When they finally got to me, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go home anymore. I'd finally accepted that I was going to stay there the rest of my life. There was a woman..."

"Looks to me like she forgave you, Jack" Sara told him gently.

"Yeah," Jack was forced to agree.

"Then its time you forgave yourself, Jack" Sara told him. "And not just for that. It's time to let go of the guilt from Charlie's death. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't my fault. As much as it hurts us to admit it, it was Charlie's fault. He knew not to touch your gun, Jack."

"No, it was my fault. I left it out," Jack insisted.

"No you didn't. He got it out," Sara said. "We talked while you were in with General Hammond, Jack. He got the gun out. He wanted to play with it so he went into our room and got the gun. He knew what he was doing, Jack. He knew it was dangerous. Hearing him tell me that today, I was finally able to stop blaming myself. You need to stop blaming yourself too. He was young and made a bad decision. One that in this timeline cost him his life, and in the other cost me mine. It was still his decision though. We have to let it go, Jack. All three of us."

At first Jack didn't know who was crying though he could plainly hear it, but he quickly realized as Sara pulled him into her embrace that he was the one crying. He was crying for himself, for Sara, and for Charlie. He was crying for the one decision made by a small boy that damaged so many lives. He didn't know how long they sat there on the floor of his guest room with the half built crib spread around them as they finally grieved together for their lost son. A dim part of his mind found it ironic that the catalyst for this grieving of their son's death was their son's return to their life. 

At the same time Jack was having his difficult talk with Sara, Sam was having one of her own. 

"Major Carter report to the Control Room," she heard over the PA as she and Daniel spoke quietly in her lab. SG-4 had brought back a device on their last mission that appeared to have been made by the Ancients. She and Daniel were working on figuring out what its purpose was. 

"Go ahead," Daniel told her. "I'll lock up here and round up the guys and the kids."

Sam waved her thanks as she headed out of the lab. She halted abruptly at the top of the stairs into the control room. "Dad?" she questioned to the back of the figure speaking with General Hammond.

"Hey, sweetheart," Jacob greeted his daughter as he turned towards her. She came forward to give her father a hug. "George says we've got some things to talk about?" he asked.

"Ahh...yeah" Sam said cautiously. "Let's go..." she stopped as she tried to think of some place quiet where they could speak.

"Why don't you use my office," Hammond suggested.

"What's this about, Sam?" Jacob asked his daughter with rising alarm in his voice.

Sam was spared answering by a happy cry from the other end of the room.

"Pappa!!!" J.J. yelled from his place in Teal'c's arms. Standing beside Teal'c, Charlie stood holding Sammy in her carrier with Daniel and Chuck 'Guarnere' at his side. "Down, Tea'c!" he demanded. "Want Pappa Jacob! Want Pappa Semak!"

Sam watched as her father's eyes bulged out. "Pappa?" he demanded of his daughter.

"I'll explain in a minute. Just go with it for now," she whispered to him quickly before continuing in a more normal voice. "Look who came to visit, J.J. Great-grandpa Jacob's gonna stay for a few days. Right?"

"Oh definitely!" Jacob told her before whispering, "This explanation better be damned good."

"Say hi to Pappa Jacob, J.J., and then we're going to Pappa Jack's," Daniel said. "We'll get the groceries, Sam, so you can talk to your dad for a bit."

"I'm going to stay and help with that explanation, Daniel" Charlie said. "J.J., you go with Pappa Danny and Uncle Teal'c, and we'll be over soon."

"No! No Pappa Jack!" J.J. said squirming in Teal'c's arms. "Want Pappa Semak! Want Pappa Jacob!"

Jacob put his confusion on hold a minute and took the wriggling toddler from Teal'c. "Hey now, Sport. Is that any way to talk to..."

"Daddy," Sam skillfully inserted causing Jacob's confusion to mount another notch.

"Right," he said. "Give us a hug, and we'll see you at Pappa Jack's house in a little while."

"You gotta help Uncle Teal'c and Pappa Danny buy the groceries, J.J." Sam told the little boy. "Otherwise they won't know what kind of cookies to buy for dessert."

"Cookies?" J.J. asked though his arms were still firmly wrapped around Jacob's neck.

"Grandma Sara and Pappa Mike are already over at Pappa Jack's house setting up your new room," Charlie told his son. "Don't you want to see your new room?" he coaxed the child.

Teal'c held out his arms, and J.J. reluctantly moved back into his arms. J.J. waved as Teal'c and Danny carried him back down the stairs out of the control room. 

"Sorry," Charlie told her. "I didn't know gr...Jacob was coming."

"I'm a few days early," Jacob admitted taking part of the blame. "Now would someone care to tell me what the Hell is going on?"

"Umm...Surprise! You're a great-grandfather!" Sam said.

"Don't I have to have a grandchild first before I have a great-grandchild?" he demanded.

Charlie lifted his hand in a half wave. "That would be me."

"Huh?"

"Jacob, why don't we go into my office," Hammond suggested and several personnel who had been silently watching quickly turned back to their duties.

A half an hour later the explanations had been given and Jacob sat in shock in the general's office.

_**'Congratulations, Jacob'**_ he heard the chuckling voice inside his head. _**'It's a boy and a boy and a girl!'**_

**_'I'm glad you're finding this so amusing, Selmak,'_** Jacob snarled at his symbiote. 

_**'It's not as if it's a surprise that Jack and Sam have feelings for one another. In any reality,'**_ Selmak reminded his host.

**_'Shut up,'_** he replied.

**_'You heard what Sam said. They can't be sent back, Jacob'_** Selmak reminded him ignoring his host's command. _**'It's best for J.J., if his family remains as much as he knows it as possible. I think he's an adorable little boy. It's been three hundred years since I've been a grandparent. I, for one, am thrilled to be Pappa Selmak.'**_

Jacob had to concede that what Selmak said was true. Charlie too seemed like a young man he would happily call family. It was more than apparent that Sam had embraced this unexpected family wholeheartedly.

"What about you and Jack?" Jacob demanded not quite ready to let go of his shock.

"I've fixed it," George told his old friend. "It's been pretty apparent since the za'tarc testing that Sam and Colonel O'Neill have feelings for one another. I did some pre-emptive planning." 

"Dad?" Sam questioned hesitantly.

"I guess I'll reserve judgment for now about you and Jack," Jacob grudgingly said. "As for you and your children, Charlie, welcome to the family."

Sam leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Dad."

Jacob hugged his daughter to him knowing that she wasn't his anymore. "So I take it there's food at Jack's house?" he said. 

"Yeah, we're supposed to bring the beer," Charlie told him a worried expression on his face.

"It's going to be alright," Sam assured the younger man as she gently stroked his back.

"I don't know if I can do this," Charlie said. "She..."

Hammond realized he was quickly working his way into a panic attack, not that anyone could blame him. The general reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a glass bottle. Grabbing one of the glasses from the table he filled the glass and handed it to Charlie. "Drink, son" he ordered.

Charlie didn't question him. He downed the contents in a single gulp causing the others to trade a look.

"Get through the next few hours, Charlie" Sam said. "And as soon as the kids are in bed, we'll get you totally sloshed." The look she traded with the two older men said plainly enough 'or maybe we'll just sedate you.'

Charlie's laughter had an hysterical edge to it, but he did laugh.

"Major, you and the captain go on ahead. I'll bring your father out myself in a little while," Hammond ordered.

"Yes, sir" she said as she and Charlie rose from their seats and left the room.

"What am I missing?" Jacob asked as soon as the door had shut behind them.

"Charlie's wife was Doctor Frasier's adopted daughter, Cassandra" George told his old friend. "They're explaining it all to Cassie tonight. With the temporal feedback...she's sixteen now, Jacob. She died in the other timeline...in his arms just after giving birth to baby Sammy."

"Holy Hannah!" Jacob whispered. Jacob closed his eyes remembering how awful his own wife's death had been. He couldn't imagine having to face his 'dead' wife mere weeks after holding her as she died. "God, that's..."

"They're going to need all the support they can get, Jacob" the SGC commander said. "The hurdles aren't over by a long shot for this new family you've acquired."

"J.J. knew about Selmak?" Jacob questioned.

"J.J., that's Jacob Jonathon by the way, has spent a great deal of time with the Tok'ra. So did Charlie and his siblings as children."

"Siblings?" Jacob asked.

"In their timeline, Jack and Sam had three kids. Jake, Sara, and Katie" George told him. "Jack and Sam have pictures. They're with your alternate in the other timeline. Jack and Sam...they both died in the final assault on Earth in that reality."

"Lord," Jacob exclaimed as he wiped a hand across his face. He was surprised at the grief that washed over him for this other Samantha Carter. She wasn't his daughter he told himself, but what he knew intellectually didn't seem to mean much to what his heart felt. "I think we'd better get over there, George" Jacob told his friend. "My great-grandson is waiting for me after all." 


	9. Reunited

Janet wanted to throw up. _'I can't do this!' _she thought. _'I can't! How do you tell a sixteen year old that she's suddenly got a husband and two kids?' _

"Cassie honey?" she called as she opened the door to their home. "You here?"

"Yeah, Mom" she heard from upstairs. "Janelle and I are doing homework."

Janet followed the sound of Cassie's voice upstairs to her bedroom where the two teenagers were indeed doing homework. Or at least pretending to do homework. "Hi, Janelle," she greeted her neighbor's daughter. "Cassie, Colonel O'Neill is having a cook out tonight. I thought we'd go."

"Will Sam be there?" Cassie asked. 

"Yeah, she'll be there," Janet told her daughter. "We need to be going soon though. So you and Janelle finish up what you're doing. Okay?"

"Okay, Mom" Cassie agreed as she began packing up her books. "We were almost done anyway. I'll finish tomorrow in home room." Janelle packed her books up as well before saying her good byes and heading downstairs. 

Janet followed the two girls downstairs and waited while they made plans to meet before school to check their homework. Once the door had closed behind Janelle, Janet sat down on the couch and called Cassie to her.

"Before we go over there's something we need to talk about, sweetie" Janet began. 

"What?" Cassie asked warily. She had long ago learned that when a grown up used that tone of voice it wasn't good news. "What's happened? Is everyone alright? Did something happen to Daniel or Teal'c?"

"Everyone's fine" Janet assured her before pausing. "Honey, a couple weeks ago we had some unexpected visitors through the gate."

"They have something to do with me?" Cassie demanded. Janet could see the fear growing in her eyes by the moment.

"Yeah," Janet said. "They're from an alternate Earth. Their Earth was being destroyed by the Goa'uld, so they escaped through the Stargate to us." 

"What's that got to do with me?" Cassie asked.

"I'm getting to that," Janet assured her. "They patched the Stargate together with another device. One that controls time. Their patch job had a side effect though. You see they're from about ten years in our future, Cassie."

"What's that got to do with me?!" Cassie asked again her voice growing louder by the moment.

"One of the men who came through the 'Gate was your husband in that other timeline, Cassie" Janet explained. "He and his two children made it through, but you...your other self..."

"I'm dead?" Cassie wondered.

"Yeah," Janet confirmed. "His name is Charlie, honey. He's Colonel O'Neill's son."

"The one who's dead?"

Janet nodded. "In their reality, Charlie didn't shoot himself. He accidentally shot and killed his mother."

"His kids...they're mine too though aren't they?" Cassie asked with a note of panic in her voice. "I'm..."

"Calm down, Cassie" Janet said. "You're not their mother. Not in this reality. Your alternate self was their mother almost ten years from now."

"But his kids...they'll recognize who I am won't they?" she argued.

"The older one, J.J., might" Janet admitted. "The younger is just a few weeks old."

"What about...him...Charlie?" she asked.

"He doesn't expect anything from you, honey" Janet reassured her. "He knows you're not his wife, but he may...well...his Cassie died just before they came through the 'Gate. He's grieving, sweetie. Seeing you is going to be hard for him. In his reality you grew up together," Janet explained. "You...she was his best friend when they were kids."

"He's going to be at the cookout?" Cassie asked.

Janet nodded. "Yeah, it's a celebration of sorts for them. They've been given their new identities today. We're going to introduce you to J.J. as his aunt Cassie, alright?"

"Could..."

"What is it, Cassie?" Janet asked gently.

"Could he come here? Charlie I mean," she asked. "I...I want to meet him first here. Without everyone watching."

"I'll see if I can get him over here," Janet told her. She rose from the couch to get the telephone and began making calls.

Twenty minutes later, Sam drove up in front of Janet's house with Charlie in the passenger seat beside her. They both climbed out of the vehicle and headed towards the house. Sam had her hand placed gently on Charlie's shoulder giving him what comfort and courage she could. They were met at the door by Janet who had her purse with her. "She wants to meet you alone," Janet explained. "Sam and I'll go on over to your dad's house in her car. You and Cassie can drive over in mine. Cassie's got the keys."

Charlie nodded before taking a deep breath and opening the door. Once inside he scanned the room before his eyes settled on the figure seated on the couch. "Cassie," he whispered brokenly. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut hoping to keep the tears at bay. Taking another steadying breath he moved around the back of the couch to take a seat opposite her. He deliberately chose to sit in the chair instead of beside her on the couch, placing the barrier of the coffee table between them. He hoped it would make her feel safer...more comfortable. "Hi," he whispered.

"Hi," she whispered back without looking up. They sat like that for several minutes, neither looking at the other, before Cassie finally broke the silence. "Do you...do you have a picture of us? Of...our...kids?" she asked.

"Yeah," Charlie said. His voice was rough with unshed tears. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his wallet. He handed the pictures inside to Cassie who looked down at them fearfully. 

Somehow it seemed that as soon as she looked at these pictures everything would change. The first was their wedding picture, she noted with surprise. She hardly recognized herself she looked so grown up. "I can't believe that's me," she whispered.

Charlie raised his head just enough to see what picture she was looking at. "You...she...was a beautiful bride," Charlie murmured. "Daniel walked...her...down the aisle, and Mo...Major Carter was her matron of honor. Dad was my best man."

"What...what did I do?" Cassie asked. "What was my job?"

"I...I don't know if I should tell you that," Charlie said. "I don't want to influence your future."

"Tell me, damnit!" Cassie ordered.

"She was a doctor like Janet," Charlie told her. "She got her MD and came back to the SGC immediately."

"What about you?" she asked.

"I followed my dad and mom as well," Charlie said. "I'm a physicist like Mom, but I've also got what special ops training I could get mainly from Dad and Teal'c. Daniel taught me a few languages when we were kids. I was part of SG-1 in my timeline."

"What...what are you going to do now?" she asked.

"I'm going to do mostly lab work for now until the kids and I get settled," Charlie told her. "General Hammond's being very kind about that. I figure eventually I'll be back out with the teams."

"Who's going to take care of our...your kids when you're on a mission?" she demanded. 

"I don't know yet," he admitted. "I've got a few more weeks of paternity leave before I need to decide."

Cassie flipped to the next picture. "Is this J.J.?" she asked. "And what's the baby's name? Mom didn't tell me."

Charlie who had returned to staring at his hands looked up again at the picture she was holding up. "No, those are my siblings. That's Jake and Sara. My...our...daughter's name is Samantha. Samantha Sara O'Neill." Charlie took the photos back from her for a moment and flipped to a photo near the end before handing it back. "That's Sammy."

"Samantha," she corrected in a whisper as she brushed a finger across the snapshot of a newborn baby wrapped in the olive green of a military blanket. "Sammy's what you'd call a little boy. Samantha or baby Sam." She was unprepared for the reaction that statement caused in the man seated across from her.

"Oh...oh God," he choked out before abruptly standing and running headlong for the bathroom.

Alarmed, Cassie followed and arrived in the doorway of the bathroom in time to see him become violently ill. His shoulders shook with sobs as he continued to lean over the toilet. She automatically reached for the towel, and once it was wet she ran it across his face and neck as Janet had done for her the times she had been ill. "Easy," she said. "Take it easy." This only caused him to sob harder though. "Talk to me," Cassie ordered him. "Tell me what's wrong."

He finally raised his head from the rim of the toilet and slid down to sit with his back braced by the bathtub. "That was what she said to me...at the end," Charlie told her. "She...I shouldn't be telling you this. You don't need to hear this."

"Why not?" Cassie asked him. "We are talking about me after all. An alternate me, but me all the same. You need to talk about it, and I'm here. Besides, I have a feeling I'm the only one you will talk to about this aren't I?"

Charlie could only nod. He and Cassie had always been so close. He had always been able to tell her things that he'd never tell anyone else.

"So tell me," Cassie ordered once again.

"She'd just given birth to Samantha," he said carefully using the baby's full name. "She was bleeding out, but we didn't have anything left to treat her with. We were alone in the infirmary. I was trying to keep her awake....trying to keep her fighting to stay with me. We were talking about names for our daughter, and finally settled on Samantha Sara. There was so much blood," he sobbed.

Cassie didn't know what instinct took over then, but she slid down beside him and took him into her arms gently rocking the two of them from side to side as she whispered to him while he sobbed out his grief and pain. Finally when he'd calmed a bit she decided to bring his thoughts back to happier times. "When did the two of you decide to get married?" she asked.

"I proposed to her on the day we finished the Air Force Academy together," Charlie said. "We were each going off for advanced training in different places. I was going to MIT and you...she went to Harvard Med. We didn't see each other very often that first year. We were both working so hard on our courses."

"Neither of you...well...found someone else while you were apart?" she asked as she gently rubbed the back of his neck.

"No," he said as he stared at the blank wall opposite them though he didn't really see it at all. He was remembering those hard years as they'd tried to keep their relationship together while they worked incredibly long hours. They had both been so eager to return to their home in Colorado as there had never been any question about either of them being assigned to another base. 

"You think we can be friends, Charlie?" she asked.

"I hope so," he told her. "You weren't just my wife. You were my best friend, Cass."

"I want us to be friends, Charlie" Cassie told him. "I want to be part of the kids lives. I think I'd make a pretty cool aunt don't you?" 

"Yeah, you'll make a wonderful aunt," he assured her. 

"Do you think J.J. will realize who I am?" she asked somewhat fearfully.

"I...I hope not," he mumbled knowing what he said might hurt her. "At least not now. When he's older, I think he should know the truth, but he's so young, Cassie. I just..."

"It's okay, Charlie," she told him. "I don't think it would be good for either of us right now."

They sat on the floor of the bathroom for several more minutes as Charlie's breathing returned to normal before Cassie broke the silence with a question. "Tell me about yourself, Charlie" she ordered. "Tell me about growing up with Jack and Sam. Tell me about this other timeline." So they sat on the floor in Janet's tiny downstairs bathroom and talked for more than an hour about Charlie's childhood and how his reality had differed from the one he now found himself in. Finally Cassie shifted slightly as her back began to hurt from sitting on the hard tile floor.

"We should head over to Dad's house, Cass" Charlie told her. 

"But..." she protested.

"We can talk on the way," he said. "And it's not as if I'm going anywhere."

Cassie nodded as she pushed herself up from the floor. "Okay, but I'm driving," she said.

"I don't think so!" he said. "Where are the keys?"

"I've got my license" she argued. "And its my mom's car. Besides, I could smell the bourbon on your breath when you came in. Dutch courage?"

Charlie sighed but motioned for her to lead the way. He continued to answer her questions as she drove them across town to Jack's house. 


	10. Waiting

When they pulled up they saw quite a few cars already parked out front. "Looks like we're the last ones to get here," Charlie said as he climbed out of the car and waited for her to come around to him.

"Yeah," she whispered. 

The fear was back in her eyes causing a pang in Charlie's chest. He grabbed her smaller hand in his. "It's going to be okay, Cassie" he told her. "Our family may be a little weird, but its strong."

"A little weird?" Cassie snorted in reply.

"I'll give you that one," Charlie agreed. "We're very weird, but we're still a family. You're not alone, Cassie. You'll never be alone."

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "I'm ready to go meet my 'niece' and 'nephew'."

Charlie smiled as he draped a friendly arm across her shoulders and led her towards the backyard. They could hear music and voices filled with laughter as they approached the gate. Charlie pushed it open and announced their presence with a shouted "Hello!"

All three women abandoned the conversations they'd been having to descend on Charlie and Cassie with hugs and long measuring looks. The men stood back and watched, but their looks were just as measuring. They'd let the women handle the touchy feely stuff unless they felt they were needed, but from what they saw Charlie and Cassie had both come through, if not unscathed, then at least whole. It was obvious that Charlie had finally allowed himself to grieve properly for his wife and for the life he'd left behind. Cassie seemed to be taking this all well, but then this wasn't the first time her world had been turned upside down. She had practice dealing with such life altering upheavals.

Sam approached her carrying J.J. in his arms. "J.J." she said cautiously. "This is your aunt Cassie."

Cassie smiled and held her arms out to the toddler. "Hi J.J. Will you come to me?" she asked.

J.J. thought about it for a moment before shifting towards Cassie from his place in Sam's arms. Moments later, he'd made the move into Cassie's embrace and had one arm loosely wrapped around her. "Momma's name's Cassie," he informed her in a sad little voice. "Momma's in Heaven now."

Cassie took a deep breath and felt rather than heard the same reaction from the adults around her. "Yes, she is J.J., but your daddy's here," Cassie told the toddler in an unsteady voice. Charlie placed a supportive hand at the small of her back. J.J. thought about her answer for a moment before putting his head down on her shoulder obviously deciding that 'Aunt' Cassie had his seal of approval. Cassie placed a light kiss on his forehead and wrapped her arms more tightly around him causing tears to pool in more than a few eyes.

Jack automatically pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Sam. Daniel too pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, handing his to Janet. Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow as Sara had her choice of handkerchiefs from the two generals, her father, and Chuck 'Guarnere'. With a small smile she took the one handed to her by 'Guarnere' who met Mike's gaze steadily. The two men exchanged a speaking look before Chuck received a nod of acknowledgement from Mike along with a warning look. He wasn't the only one giving Chuck a warning look though. Jack's menacing glare was interrupted by the elbow Sam drove into his ribs and the whispered warning "She's a grown woman, Jack. She can take care of herself."

Jack's glare then turned towards his 2IC/soon-to-be lover. Sam raised an eyebrow in challenge making Jack scowl and grumble something about girls always sticking together. 

Sam pushed him towards the grill. "Go. Build fire. Burn meat. Do manly things," she grunted to him causing the others to laugh breaking the tension. Mike slapped his former son-in-law on the back and followed him over to the grill while Daniel offered to get Charlie and Cassie something to drink from the cooler. General Hammond excused himself to return home to his wife now that the biggest hurdle of the evening was over.

The evening passed uneventfully as Jack and his helpers cooked the steaks while everyone sat around talking. Mike and Sara got to know the rest of Jack's new family. They were often quiet watching the interaction of the SGC personnel. The easy friendship there was among them. Samantha Sara spent the evening being passed from adult to adult, and J.J. went from lap to lap as he chattered happily about this or that. When it got dark, J.J. asked to go look at the stars with his Pappa Jack. So Jack climbed the ladder up to his roof and brought his telescope down so he and J.J. could look at the stars together. Sam soon joined the toddler and his grandfather on the lawn.

"Do you think they'll ever get together, Charlie?" Cassie asked from where the two of them sat on the lawn watching. 

"General Hammond figured out a way around the fraternization rules. As of this morning she's not in his chain of command," Charlie told her with a smirk. 

"Rreeealllyyy..." Cassie drawled. "That's interesting. You're staying at your dad's right?"

"Yeah," Charlie replied cautiously. He recognized that look in Cassie's eye. It had usually preceded some wild matchmaking scheme she'd cooked up to bring Daniel and her mother together when they were kids. "Cassie....." he warned. "What are you thinking?"

"Lock your dad out of the house tonight," she ordered him.

"Cassie!" he reprimanded her. "No."

"He'd be forced to go stay at Sam's house," she argued.

"He'd crash at Daniel's," Charlie retorted. "Or go back to base. I'm not getting involved in any more of your matchmaking attempts, Cass."

"What matchmaking attempts?" she asked. Cassie pondered that for a moment before something he'd said earlier clicked in her mind. "Wait a minute, did you say Daniel walked me down the aisle?" she demanded.

"Uuhh..." Charlie hesitated knowing he'd made a big tactical mistake. He winced inwardly. _'I'll have to apologize to Daniel and Janet later,'_ he told himself before throwing them to their fate. "Daniel married your mom in my reality. You've got a couple brothers and sisters there."

Cassie still had that matchmaking look in her eyes, but at least her target had changed.

"Don't expect me to help you, Cass!" he told her. "They'll figure it out on their own."

"When?" she demanded.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But don't try to force them, Cassie."

"I want a father!" she told him.

"Borrow mine," he ordered her. "Don't go playing matchmaker with your mom and Daniel."

"Why not?"

"Daniel's not ready yet," Charlie told her. "He'll get to it. Or she will. Watch them tonight," he ordered her remembering the handkerchief from earlier. "There's a fire burning there, but if you try to feed it too quickly it will burn out," he warned her.

"And we don't want that," Cassie responded skeptically.

"No, you want a slow burn. A fire that will last a long time," he explained. "Look at Dad and M...Sam. They've been slowly burning for each other for more than four years."

"Charlie, I know I'm only sixteen, but..." she started to say then dropped her head into her hands in embarrassment.

"No, Cassie" he told her bluntly then his expression and voice softened. "I won't do that to you. I won't steal your youth because I want to bring my wife back from the dead. You deserve better than that, Cassie."

"What if it's what I want?" she challenged.

"How can it be what you want, Cass? You've known me for less than a day!" he argued. "It's not what you want. It's what you think you should want. Happily ever after and love at first sight are a myth, Cassie. It takes a lot more to make a good marriage, and even then things can happen to destroy it," his told her as his attention turned to where his mother and Chuck sat talking quietly.

"Okay, Charlie" she assured him as she shifted away from him. "No schoolgirl fantasies."

"Don't be like that, Cass" he chastised her. "You're only sixteen, sweetheart. I'm too old for you now."

"I won't stay sixteen forever, Charlie" she warned him.

"Then come talk to me when you're not sixteen anymore," he offered.

"The day I graduate the academy, I want a date," Cassie bargained.

Charlie turned his head to look at the militant expression on her face. "Okay," he finally agreed. "When you graduate the academy, you have a date. If you still want it."

Cassie knew he thought she'd grow out of it, but something inside her told her that Charlie was her future. She could wait.


End file.
